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Editorial

Extending a helping hand

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That central Ohio continues to see large numbers of homeless families despite an improving
economy is cause for concern.

So is the fact that the YWCA Family Center, opened in 2005 as the solution for helping families
get back on their feet, is overwhelmed. But there is comfort in knowing that, as it has so many
times in the past, a generous community stands ready to help.

The YWCA and the Community Shelter Board have put out the call to area churches, asking if they
can house families overnight for one week each month, and several have said they want to help.

For some churches, it wouldn’t be a brand-new experience; before the Family Center was built,
churches were a primary solution for homeless adults with children, for whom standard shelters
wouldn’t be appropriate.

Organized as the Interfaith Hospitality Network, more than 20 participating churches provided
dinner, a safe and warm place to sleep and breakfast, one week per month, for a family in
crisis.

That ended when the Family Center opened, but with the center overflowing, the Shelter Board is
counting on churches to resume the program.

The Church of the Messiah United Methodist in Westerville is one congregation dusting off the
old plan; said the Rev. Jim Wilson of the church, “I believe you do what you can do, and I believe
all the churches need to ask what we can do to meet the situation at hand.” That’s a spirit that
does central Ohio much credit.

Shuttling families among churches isn’t ideal; that’s why the Family Center was developed in the
first place.

The churches in the former network were far-flung from the central city; some were as far as 20
miles from the day center the YWCA operated at the time in Franklinton.

Logistics are challenging; churches have their own programs to run throughout the day, so
parents have to be transported someplace during the day and their children bused to school.

This sometimes requires families to wake and get moving as early as 5 a.m., only to repeat the
trek at the end of the day.

But the current trend of 130 to 140 families per night “is truly beyond anything we imagined,”
YWCA spokeswoman Patti O’Toole said. With the Family Center built to accommodate 50 families,
officials have been relying on extra cots in makeshift sleeping areas and the Shelter Board even
pays for hotel rooms in some cases.

Shelter Board Executive Director Michelle Heritage’s recent declaration — that no one seeking
shelter will be turned away — requires creative measures in times of high need.

A $5.9 million homeless shelter set to open in the spring will provide some relief, with 20
overflow beds planned for families.

But until then, and as long as the need exceeds the permanent beds available, central Ohio is
fortunate to be able to count on a generous community to help where help is needed.